Officials are probing how a 51-year-old highway bridge came to collapse in the Italian port city of Genoa yesterday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 16 others as it sent dozens of vehicles tumbling into a heap of concrete and twisted steel.

Question time in federal parliament

WHAT WE LEARNED * Wind turbines could only provide 2.5 per cent of South Australia's energy needs on a 41-degree day, forcing the state to suck brown coal energy from Victoria, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told MPs.

* The Australian Energy Market Operator told Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg it disputes allegations by SA Premier Jay Weatherill that it failed to utilise energy from the Pelican Point power station during a blackout on Wednesday.

* No step - including seeking parliament's approval for deployment of troops overseas - would put Australia's national security more at risk than adopting the policies of the Greens, the PM said after MP Adam Bandt described US President Donald Trump as "dangerously unhinged".

* There are about 1.5 million families in the Family Tax Benefit system and of those about half have children under the age of five, Social Services Minister Christian Porter revealed.

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTED TO SPIN

We're putting money into the pockets of Australian families with children to ensure they can meet their household expenses, get the benefit of early learning and child care so that more mothers and fathers are better able to balance work and family and stay engaged in the workforce.

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How many children and families are going to get a cut in family payments? Is it still government policy to make Australians work until they're 70 before they are eligible for the aged pension?

THEY SAID WHAT "This is coal - don't be afraid, don't be scared." - Treasurer Scott Morrison, with a lump of it in hand, lampoons Labor MPs over their opposition to an energy source that has given Australia a competitive advantage over the rest of the world.

TWEETED

@SenatorLudlam: question time is still utter crap.

@AdamBandt: "Monster heatwave" coming. So gov _literally_ hands around lump of coal in Parl #qt, a recipe for more heatwaves.

@JoanneRyanLalor: It's been a rough summer for Malcolm, but yesterday was bizarre. Which conservative decided to give him sugar before entering the chamber?

@TimWattsMP: As a Keating impersonator, Turnbull makes a good Barnaby.